What Comes Around
by Serenity's Pain
Summary: Abby is avoiding Gibbs, she is actiong funny, and she is not wearing pigtails. What's wrong with this picture? Find out. First NCIS Fic. Enjoy. Ch3: Bonding time for McGee, Tony, and Abby and embarassment for all. Still no pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first NCIS fic. I am very excited to be posting this and I hope you enjoy it. I do not own NCIS. Good Enough.**

Abby quietly exited the elevator and hoped that she could make it to her lab before Gibbs showed up. It wasn't that she was hiding from him, which was basically impossible; she was simply avoiding him for as long as she could. At some point in the day he would come down to her lab and then he would see what she was trying to hide.

Even though she had only glanced in the mirror this morning, she knew she didn't look good. She was bruised and had a split lip. She'd left her hair down and worn sunglasses into the building so that nobody would see her. She was sore and now she was also a nervous wreck.

The moment she sat down at her desk, even before she could put on her music and attempt to hide some of the bruising, Gibbs was there. Keeping her head down she asked, "What's up boss man? Got a new case?"

Gibbs was taken aback by the change in Abby from the effusive woman she had been the night before. Where were the childlike pigtails, where was here bouncy personality, where was the music. She wouldn't look at him. Something was definitely wrong. "Abby what's going on?"

"What do you mean, Gibbs?" Abby asked still not looking at him. She was pretending to read a file on her desk, but Gibbs wasn't buying it. He gritted his teeth. She was being evasive again. "You know what I'm talking about. Why won't you look at me?"

"Gibbs I'm fine. What do you need?" Abby asked again."

"We need the results of the blood tests you ran yesterday. Did you notice that Bert was missing?" Abby looked up her hair sweeping back from her face as she looked for her favorite stuffed friend. He was in his appointed spot in the lab, which meant that Gibbs had tricked her and he had now seen the reason she was acting so strangely.

"What the hell happened?" Gibbs snapped. Abby sighed and glanced around. Dinozzo, who had been standing outside of Abby's office, heard Gibbs outburst and entered. His first sight of Abby brought a gasp from him.

"What happened Abby?" Gibbs repeated if possible angrier than before.

"Nothing Gibbs. I'm fine." Abby said as she went to retrieve the requested results so that she could get them out of her lab.

"Abby you are obviously not fine. You look like Rocky…and not the fun running up the stairs Rocky. The horribly disfigured 'Adrian' Rocky." Dinozzo interrupted. "I think maybe Ducky needs to get down here to check you out."

"That's a good idea Dinozzo. Call him." Gibbs told his inferior.

"Thanks…Boss." Tony said in disbelief that Gibbs was complementing him. He grabbed the phone to comply.

"Gibbs this is ridiculous. I have a black eye. I split my lip. It's nothing." Abby snapped in frustration.

"Then what happened to you Abby?" Gibbs asked.

"Would you believe that I ran into a door?" Abby inquired.

Gibbs shook his head. Dinozzo who had just finished making his phone call asked, "Was this door six feet tall two hundred pounds with fists of iron. Ducky's on his way. Ziva and McGee were with him so they're coming too."

"No. I just need to get back to work." Abby yelled, but it was too late. She heard the automatic doors whoosh open as three people entered her lab. McGee looked confused, Ziva stoic, and Ducky annoyed. Until they saw Abby, then they were speechless.

"Who did it Abs?" Gibbs asked. This time he was speaking softly.

Abby did not speak only tried to leave the room. She didn't get very far before she realized that everyone was following her. "Look I took care of the problem. I was dating this guy and last night I had to tell him something that I was feeling bad about. He didn't take it well."

"Well I would say that is an understatement Abs. What did you tell him?" Dinozzo asked.

"Yeah what could have been so bad that this man beat the tire out of you?" Ziva continued.

"Tar, Ziva. It's tar not tire." McGee corrected.

"Yes." Ziva waved him off.

Abby hesitated. She really did not want to tell them why her boyfriend had gone crazy and started hitting her. "…I told him…I told him that I slept with somebody else. We were an off again on again thing until a month ago, when we decided to give a real relationship a try. I should never have done that. It goes against all my instincts. Anyway a couple of weeks ago I got really drunk. I mean completely ploughed and he was out of town. Well I took someone else home and the next day I woke up and realized what I had done. I felt really horrible so for two weeks I tried to decide whether or not to tell him. Last night I finally broke. I told him, he hit me once, I asked him to leave. He didn't want to leave so he kept smacking me around…I started fighting back and eventually it devolved to kicking each others asses."

Nobody spoke so Abby continued. "Okay is that what you wanted to hear. I brought it all down on myself."

"Abby what is his name?" Gibbs asked with only a little restraint in his voice.

"No way Gibbs. I am not telling you that. I already took care of it." Abby exclaimed.

"Abby I want to know who this guy is so that I can make sure that he won't do this again." Gibbs stated rationally.

"I don't need you to scare him. I am sure he won't come back." Abby reasoned.

"Isn't that what you said about Mikel Mawher? You were sure about him.Only as it turns out he was a psycho who was going to kill you." Gibbs yelled. A look of hurt passed over Abby's face and he knew immediately that he had gone too far. To bring up that time in her life when she was most vulnerable and scared just to make a point was unforgivable.

Abby couldn't take it anymore. "Low blow Gibbs." She said as she left. This time nobody tried to stop her.

"Does anybody know who this guy is?" Gibbs asked when he had the team gathered up back in the bullpen. Tony sat at his desk, stonily silent. Ducky was nearby and for once not going off on some long winded story. McGee was in his own little world, but Gibbs knew he was also listening. Ziva was the only one to speak. "If I knew who this man was do you think I would still be here?"

"No, but I want to know who this guy is. I want to make sure he is out of Abby's life for good." Gibbs snapped. "Find out what you can and then get back to me. In the mean time, we have a suspect in custody. Everybody get to work."

Abby had gone back to her lab. Usually she would have just laughed off what Gibbs had said to her, but today she was hurt physically and emotionally and Gibbs was supposed to be comforting her not making it worse. That was beside the point right now she had a case to solve. Well actually she had pretty much done everything on her end and now she just had to file her report. It was slow going and it was made even slower by the fact that she kept thinking about her trashed house. If she wasn't careful she might cry. When she had left her home that morning, everything had been broken or damaged in someway and if she wasn't mistaken her now ex-boyfriend still had a house key.

Without her consent tears started to fall. When a tissue came into her line of sight she glanced up to see a worried Ducky. "Thanks Duck." She said gulping as she did. Ducky crouched down and put an arm around his young friend.

"Abby what have you gotten yourself into?" He asked.

"Oh man Duck. This whole situation just sucks. Now I can't go home, because I think he still has a key. Why does it seem like every guy I date is a psychopath? Maybe Gibbs is right." Abby sobbed.

Unbeknownst to Abby, McGee was standing outside of her office. He had heard the whole thing and now knew what he had to do. Abby had told him about this guy. She hadn't gone into specifics, but when they occasionally went out for drinks she had mentioned a few things about him. If this guy was dangerous it was time to bring Gibbs up to bat. It was a good thing that they had just closed the case because he had a feeling they would be busy tonight.

As he entered the bullpen he spotted Gibbs. Tony and Ziva were at their desks finishing their reports and Gibbs was walking in with a fresh cup of coffee. "Hey boss. I have some information for you."

"What do you got McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"I have a first name and a place of employment. His name is Alec and he works in a funeral home called, Williams House. He still has a key to Abby's place."

"McGee…" Abby yelled. She had just walked in with Ducky. He had managed to calm her down and decided to bring her up to the bullpen to talk to Gibbs. McGee glanced at Abby. Her eyes, what he could see of them through the swelling, were pleading with him and he became all the more ardent in his choice.

Gibbs grabbed his car keys off his desk. "Dinozzo Ziva you're with me. McGee take Abby home and stay with her. Abs I'll be over later and we'll change your locks."

"Gibbs no…Just leave him be. Alec is an idiot and he is not worth it. Just let it go." Abby begged.

Gibbs walked past her with barely a glance. Tony and Ziva did the same. McGee said a simple "I'm sorry." Which he did not actually mean. Abby was in tears again.

When they arrived at Williams House Funeral Home Gibbs was ready to hurt someone. Just remembering Abby's poor face put him in a murderous mood. He was going to make this idiot pay for every bruise, cut, and pain that Abby had to experience today. They entered the building and were instantly approached by a man in a black suit. "Are you here for the Johannes memorial? I'm afraid that it doesn't start until seven."

Gibbs gave the man a look. He despised false sincerity. "I'm looking for a man named Alec. I want to talk to him about an incident yesterday."

"I'm sorry sir, but Alec is busy with a cremation at the moment. He should be done with in the hour. If you would like to leave a phone number where he can reach you at I will make sure that he calls you at his first available moment." The man said.

Ziva smirked at him. "I'm sure you would, but I think we'll wait for him." She replied.

"What is Alec's job here?" Dinozzo asked fearing the answer.

The man grimaced. "Mr. Olenski works directly with the dearly departed. Some people are better with the dead than the living."

Dinozzo coughed something that sounded suspiciously like Palmer when he received a look from Gibbs followed by a head slap. The director of the funeral home looked confused and was obviously uncomfortable. "Well I think I will just go see if Mr. Olenski is finished yet. May ask your names so that I may tell him who is asking for him."

"Just tell him NCIS is here. I'm pretty sure he'll know what we want." Gibbs told the annoying older man who was rapidly exiting. "Dinozzo Ziva be ready to move. He may not want to come willingly."

They didn't have to wait long. The funeral director came back with a sullen looking young man in tow. His skin was as pale as the corpses he worked with and his black hair was dirty looking making the agents realize they didn't really want to know why. Facial piercings gleamed out at them along with a stupidly defiant expression. Gibbs was going to love taking that away from him. Abby had been right. She had handed him his ass. He did not look as bad as she did, but she had definitely hurt him.

"Alec Olenski?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah what do you want?" he snapped.

"Does the name Abby Sciuto mean anything to you?" Ziva asked the young man making his skin become paler if possible.

"Look I don't know…" Alec began.

"I'm sure there is a lot you don't know, but I think that we can fill in the blanks." Tony smirked at the man.

"I think maybe you should all take this out back. People are starting to arrive for the memorial." The director whined.

"I think a change of location would be a very good idea." Gibbs said. He grabbed Alec by his upper arm and moved him toward the back door. They exited into the alley and Gibbs immediately slammed Alec up against the wall. "So you like to beat up women that try to do the right thing huh?"

"Is that what that little whore told you?" Alec spat before he was roughly thrown to the ground by Gibbs. Ziva grabbed him out of Gibbs reach and Tony stood by his boss with a restraining arm across his chest.

"I really think that if you want to keep the same amount of blood in your body as you have now, that you may not want to refer to our friend in a derogatory manner." Dinozzo told the stupid Goth man.

"Hey look I don't care what she told you, but she cheated on me with some loser she used to sleep with." Alec said.

Ziva sent Tony a look that clearly said 'Abby didn't tell us that she slept with someone she had slept with before'. She nudged Alec. "You beat her up for cheating on you? That's it. Even though she tried not to hurt you, you decided that wasn't enough and beat her up?"

"I tried for years to get her to settle down with me in a real relationship. I tried everything. I loved Abby and I would have given anything to be with her, so when she finally conceded to actually be together I gave her all I had. I used to watch her sleep after. She was so beautiful that I thought she was a perfect angel. She screwed that perception royally. So now I have nothing, but a bunch of misplaced affection for that skank. You know now that I think about it, when she was asleep and she looked like an angel…I should have smothered her so that way she would never have ruin it for me. She'd always be my sleeping angel…" Whatever else Alec was going to say was lost in a yelp as Gibbs, who could not be restrained by Tony lunged at him and delivered an uppercut to the jaw.

Ziva who had been standing behind Alec caught him as he fell and then let him fall to the ground. She didn't want to be the one to catch that piece of scum. "If you ever come near Abby again you won't even get the chance to regret it because I will take care of it. Do you understand you worthless slime?"

Alec clutched his jaw. It was probably broken, but he was able to nod in answer.

"Good. Let's go."

McGee entered Abby's house before her with his gun drawn. He wasn't taking any risks after what happen with Abby's last psycho boyfriend. Abby walked after him while scoffing at the whole production. She threw her bag down on the broken coffee table and plopped down on the couch. "Well what do you think? Kind of lacks that homey charm. Okay well you can go now, because I need to try to clean this place up." She dismissed him.

"I'm not leaving Abby. Gibbs would kill me if I did. Remember the chair?" McGee said as he surveyed the damage. It was pretty bad. It looked like a…well he couldn't really make a comparison because he had never seen anything quite that bad. Abby noticed that he was shocked. "What?" She snapped.

"Nothing…nothing. I just…umm. Did he do all of this?" McGee stuttered.

"Well…I helped, but yeah." Abby answered. "Guess that he really doesn't like it when chicks cheat on him."

"Okay don't do that." McGee ordered.

"Do what McGee?" Abby asked in exasperation as she gathered a few broken figurines.

"Don't keep beating yourself up for what happened. I think he did that enough for both of you." He answered with a goofy grin.

"Yeah that really isn't funny!" Abby said her face completely serious.

"Oh God…oh Abby…I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Abby face immediately softened into a grin. "I'm kidding Timmy. You know ha ha."

"That isn't that funny." McGee said hoping that she would take the bait.

"Oh well. Guess I'm the only one with a sense of humor." She left the room for the kitchen where she retrieved some trash bags and a broom. She handed a trash bag to McGee. "Well if you aren't leaving you can start cleaning. You know you want to. I've seen your clean to the point of creepiness apartment. This place must be driving you nuts." She singsonged.

She was right. McGee was going nuts in the messy living room. He had been that way since he was young. Everything had its proper place and McGee liked it that way so when he was in a place like this he had a need to compulsively clean. Abby liked it that way. Saved her a lot of work.

When Gibbs entered her home a little while later they had filled a trash bag and a half with random things and were still far from done.

Gibbs was angry all over again when he saw the state of her house. That little maggot had violated her home and now she had to try to put the pieces back together.

"Please tell me you didn't kill him." Abby said causing McGee to notice that Gibbs was there.

"Boss?" McGee inquired.

"I didn't kill him. I wish I had, but I didn't." Gibbs answered.

Dinozzo and Ziva had entered the house directly behind Gibbs. "I think killing him would have been too merciful. Now when he is drinking mush through his wired shut jaw he will remember you Gibbs, and why you came to be in his life." Dinozzo put in.

"Yes it was quite comical." Ziva said with out a hint of comedy at all.

"Oh Gibbs. No. Please tell me you didn't hurt him." Abby pleaded.

"Abby trust me on this one. I think that after what Alec told us tonight, Gibbs would be completely justified in killing him." Tony said.

"What did he say?" McGee whispered to Ziva.

Ziva gave him a reluctant look and then proceeded to whisper the whole sorted affair while Tony, Gibbs, and Abby argued. When it was all said and done McGee completely agreed with Dinozzo and was disgusted by what he had heard. "He said he should have killed her? That guy is one sick puppy."

Ziva nodded. "Yes it was sickening. Gibbs was very angry, but he only slapped him around a little. I think he may be maturing as a person."

Despite the irony in what Ziva had just said Timothy was not laughing. He would have felt a whole lot better about the whole situation if the guy wasn't still out on the streets. If he came back would he make good on his threats? "Boss, don't you think that somebody should stay with Abby tonight? I mean…if this guy was as crazy as you say."

"No way." Abby told them all. "I am not in danger here. Alec was pissed off, but he isn't going to hurt me."

"Abby this lunatic already hurt you. Why don't you get that? If he was capable of all this, he could very well come back and do worse." Tony yelled at her gesturing around the room. "I'm staying." He told her in all finality.

"Me too." McGee agreed.

"Me as well I suppose." Ziva said.

"Well looks like it's a party because I'm not going anywhere." Gibbs put in.

Abby looked at them all for a moment trying to figure out if there was anyway to deter them. Deciding that there wasn't she made up her mind. "Then I'm leaving." She said as she strolled toward the door.

Gibbs was the first to challenge her. "Abby if you walk out that door, then it is all over. I will not hesitate to fire you."

"I guess, Gibbs, you got to do what you got to do." Abby said as she slammed the door. She got in her car and drove off. Then she cried for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

**Encourage me to do more. Please Review. **

**I hope that I got the characters dialogue as close to the real thing as possible, but you know how that goes. **

**Tell me what you think.**

**S.**


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the second installment of "What Comes Around"

**Here is the second installment of "What Comes Around". I got really great reviews last chapter and I would like to thank all of you who did review. You know who you are and you rock. Now on with the show.**

The echo of the door slamming had not ceased before Gibbs barked his first order. "McGee call her and find out where she is going. If she doesn't answer then track her using the GPS in her cell phone."

"On it Boss." McGee obeyed and set to work.

"You aren't really going to fire her are you Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Not unless she gives me no other choice." Gibbs answered somewhat cryptically.

Tony looked to Ziva who returned his worried gaze with a calm one. That was Ziva, always cool until she got pissed off, and then she just made threats and rarely followed through on any of them. McGee was trying to dial Abby's phone, but when the call went through they heard Abby's familiar ring tone. She had left her phone on the coffee table and no one had noticed. That meant tracking her with her phone was out of the question. Unfortunately her hearse was too old to use GPS which meant that just short of a miracle; they weren't going to find her until she calmed down enough to stop running.

"What should we do Gibbs? I suppose we can go look for her. She won't be too far away yet." Ziva suggested.

"No. Go home and get some sleep. We've got to work tomorrow." Gibbs told the team to their astonishment.

"Boss we should find her. She is obviously distraught. She needs us to be there for her." McGee argued.

"Be where for her McGee. We don't know where she is and she doesn't want us to. Go home or Abby won't be the only one looking for a new job!" Gibbs snapped. His team did as they were told. He expected his orders obeyed and they knew it.

Gibbs did not go home however. When the others had left he remained at Abby's house. She probably wouldn't be back anytime soon, but it beat doing nothing. Abby was in trouble. He should have seen it coming. It was stupid to back her into a corner like they had. When a wild animal got hurt and backed into a corner they lashed out and Abby was the wildest person he knew.

Animals also stuck to habits. They liked to be in control of the situation. There was one place on earth where Abby felt most in control.

Abby grabbed Bert, turned on some music, and looked around at the familiar comfort of her lab. A fresh Caf Pow rested on her desk. She had stopped and got it right after she decided to come here and now she had all her favorite things in the world right at her reach. Life had become very complicated of late. She had made one mistake right after another, beginning with cheating, proceeding to tell Alec, and then telling Gibbs.

She was really starting to feel like she deserved what she had gotten. "Wait what the hell is wrong with me?" She said out loud.

"Why don't you tell me Abbs?" A soft voice behind her said. She startled and turned.

"Jeez Gibbs. What is with you always sneaking up on me? Oh yeah and how did you know I was here?" Abby asked in an annoyed fashion.

"Cause I know you Abbs. When I suspected that you were here I called security and they said that you checked in. If you wanted to hide so bad why did you come to the first place that people would think to look for you?" Gibbs asked.

"Well that is a really good question. I suppose that I came back here to clean out my lab since I no longer work at NCIS apparently." Abby said not quite able to hide the spite in her voice.

"Is that a resignation?" Gibbs questioned as he sat down on the edge of her desk.

Abby gave him a withering look. She'd had enough games. "Gibbs you made it perfectly clear that I would no longer have a job here if I left the house. What now? Are you just making idle threats?"

"Abby, I have threatened to fire DiNozzo everyday he has worked for me. He is still around and I don't like him as much as I like you." Gibbs told her.

She smiled almost forgetting how angry she was at him. "Aww I knew I was your favorite. Not that it was any big secret."

"Abby, why did you try to hide this from me?" Gibbs asked her gesturing towards her injuries.

Abby shrugged. "A lot of reasons Gibbs. It was embarrassing that I let that guy into my life, especially after the whole Mikel thing. I guess I felt like I deserved it 'cause I was the one who cheated."

"Abby, you messed up. That doesn't give this guy the right to maim you. These things happen to everyone." Gibbs urged.

"So by everyone you mean…you got drunk and had a one night stand while in a serious relationship?" Abby teased a hint of her playful humor showing through.

Gibbs gave her one of his looks, which she ignored. He was happy to see that she was finally acting like herself.

"Gibbs what did Alec say to you tonight that made you so mad?" Abby asked completely serious again.

Gibbs had dreaded this. He knew how uncomfortable this would make her, but she had a right to know. Maybe if he did tell her she would not protest as much about him beating the crap out of her ex. He might even get permission to go back and do it again. "Are you sure you want to know?" Gibbs asked her giving her an out.

She nodded and he sighed. This was going to be hard. "We asked him a few questions and he gave us some answers. I beat him up a little. All in good fun and then he said something about killing you in your sleep and I broke his jaw."

Abby remained stoic for a moment before bursting out with laughter. "Is that all Gibbs? He just said he should have killed me. Do you have any idea how many of my boy toys say that they want to kill me? Nine out of ten at least." She paused for a moment. "That didn't sound so warped in my head. You know most of the guys I hang out with are obsessed with death and stuff. They think fresh corpses are beautiful and that sort of thing, so when one of them says something like 'I wish we could die and rot together' or 'I want you to be dead and all mine forever' I don't get to scared."

Gibbs just gave her a look. Guess it wasn't going to be as difficult for her as he thought. Who in their right minds would be with a person whose greatest fantasy was a dead body as a significant other? "That is sick Abbs."

"Isn't it though? The thing is I never take them seriously. Maybe I should. You know, like I should start dating normal guys. Stop looking for a good time and start looking for a good man. That sort of thing." Abby said more to herself than anyone else.

Gibbs remained a silent observer. Abby needed to work through things in her own head, but to do that she needed him there and listening.

"Why do I always go for the person who is worst for me? I mean like with McGee. He's a genuinely good person and he actually cared about me, but did I want a relationship with him. No! I just wanted to keep things casual. What the hell is wrong with me Gibbs?" Abby said loudly.

"Nothing is wrong with you Abbs. Now don't get me wrong. I am not happy about the death mongers that you spend time with especially now that I know about them, but you are going to do what is in your prerogative to do. So do it. I'm going to go get a cup of coffee and I'll be upstairs if you need me." Gibbs told her. He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek.

He got up to leave and she asked, "Hey Gibbs?"

"Yeah Abby."

"I was just thinking…maybe I should take up with a marine." She gave him an evil little look and he shot her a sly grin as he continued to leave.

Abby had a lot of things to think about now.

McGee arrived at his desk the next morning before anybody else was there. Except for Gibbs of course, but he was asleep at his desk and would not be bothering anybody for a little while.

McGee had spent the evening thinking. After Gibbs had forced them all to go home he had spent the entire night half asleep and half awake with his mind on a certain little Goth forensics specialist. Things between him and Abby had not worked out, but that did not mean that he did not care for her. In fact it had been her idea to limit and ultimately end the relationship.

He had made up his mind. If Gibbs was going to fire Abby, then he would receive McGee's resignation before the day was out. McGee gulped. 'What is it with my need to give my resignation for the women in my life? He thought wildly. Nevertheless he would and the consequences be damned.

DiNozzo and Ziva arrived in the parking lot at relatively the same time that morning, which was an unusual feat for them. When they met in the elevator Tony was the first to speak. "Did you hear from Gibbs last night after we left?"

"No, did you hear anything from Abby?" Ziva answered with a question of her own.

"No. You don't think Gibbs fired her do you? I mean he wouldn't. Abby is…Abby. He wouldn't fire her." DiNozzo fired off what he was thinking.

"I don't know. He was pretty angry last night. What was she thinking?" Ziva supplied.

Tony choosing to ignore the last part of his partners' statement went on. "I hope he doesn't fire her. This place would not be the same without our Mistress of the Dark. Think about it. Just you, me, McGeek, and Gibbs. Ehhhhh. Scary."

"Yes, but I suppose we could just kill you. That would take care of the problem nicely." Ziva said in deference to being insulted.

"You know they say when a woman expresses hostility at inappropriate times that it speaks to deep seated psychological issues. Anything you would like to talk about Ziva." Tony asked as the elevator doors opened.

"Tony…if I needed psychiatric help you would be the last thing on earth I would go to." Ziva said as she walked away.

"Don't you mean person, not thing, Ziva?" Tony shouted to be heard.

Ziva continued to walk away and before she was completely inaudible she uttered, "I meant what I said this time DiNozzo."

Gibbs came awake when he heard Tony shout. He didn't like shouting. Especially when he had just been asleep, but then he was supposed to be awake and ready to work. Never the less he would pay DiNozzo back later. A head slap probably would not be amiss. "DiNozzo," Gibbs gruffed out. "Were you born in a barn? We do not shout in doors."

"Hey boss, I was just…uh weren't you just shouting?" Tony smarted off. A look from Gibbs sent him stuttering. "Uh never mind."

Gibbs looked over to McGee's desk where the junior agent was already at work. "How long you been here McGee?"

"Not that long. Has anybody heard from Abby?" Timothy asked, hoping against hope that Gibbs had forgotten what he had said the night before.

"I didn't. Ziva didn't either. What about you boss?" Tony queried.

Gibbs stood from his desk without a word and walked away to get what the others could only assume was a fresh cup of coffee.

"I am going to take that as a bad sign Probie." Tony said rather unnecessarily.

McGee who was more than a little annoyed spouted, "Ya think?" before storming form his desk leaving DiNozzo alone in the bullpen.

"Well that went well."

When everybody had made it back to their desks, the tension was noticeable and unbearable. Try as they might the team found it difficult to concentrate when the job of one of their friends hung in the balance.

"Boss what are you going to do about Abby?" McGee finally said when he could take it no longer. Ziva and DiNozzo looked up, both glad that someone had asked what they all wanted to know. They avidly waited for the answer.

Gibbs looked at McGee with an indefinable expression on his face. "Why McGee? Do I need your approval about something?"

"No boss. I just wanted to know if Abby was going to need the people that care about her to help her clear out her lab." McGee, who did not often express anger, was in full force now.

"McGee if you have something to say you better say it now." Gibbs told the junior agent.

"Okay fine. I don't think you should fire Abby. If you do fire her I'm going to." McGee said.

"Fired? Who's getting fired?" Abby asked. She had just entered the bullpen. She looked from one agent to the other.

"Abby what are you doing here? Where have you been?" DiNozzo asked.

"Umm…I've been working in my lab. Why?" Abby's confusion was apparent.

"Well you stormed out of your house last night and basically poked Gibbs with a stick to provoke him into firing you." DiNozzo stated.

"Oh yeah that. We worked all that stuff out last night. No worries. By the way here is that information you requested Gibbs. Bye." She laid a folder on Gibbs desk and left. A shocked silence followed her.

"What was it you were saying McGee?" Gibbs asked. McGee gave him a confused look which seemed to amuse Gibbs.

"Nothing at all boss. I think I'll just go back to work." McGee stammered.

"I think that would be a very good idea. All of you." Gibbs snapped. When he saw that his subtle threat was taken as such he leaned back in his seat and sipped his coffee.

**Well that's all for now. I hope you liked it cause this chapter was really hard to write. LOL. S.**


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long periods of time between updates

**Sorry for the long periods of time between updates. Things in my neck of the woods have been interesting to say the least. Thanks to both of my reviewers from the last chapter. Ya'll Rock!**

It had been a long day for Abby. There weren't any new cases, so it had been one long, boring, tedious cold-case-model-building-wish-she-was-somewhere-else day. When she got home she let out a huge sigh of relief. Then she saw what a mess she still had to clean up and was depressed all over again. She plopped down on her couch and decided she would rest for a while before she got started. Looking around the room she tried to plot out a strategy, but found herself thinking about the house itself.

Abby loved this place. It had been a run down, rickety, old thing. Everything had needed to be fixed or replaced, but when she saw the Victorian spires and brick work she knew that it was made for her. With all of her experience with Habitat for Humanity, she had the house in good condition in no time. Well actually a lot of time. Half a year or so, but she had never regretted moving out of her apartment and buying this rambling old gothic home.

A knock on the door tore her out of her reverie. She pushed herself out of her comfortable position and grudgingly went to answer it. Throwing open the door Abby was stunned to see McGee standing there. "McGee, what are you doing here?" A confused look crossed her face.

McGee entered the house when Abby stepped aside for him and after shutting the door they went into the living room. He sat down across from the couch in a ripped armchair while Abby resumed her previous position. "I just wanted to come by and see how you were on my way home." McGee answered.

Abby gave him a strange look, before she said, "McGee this isn't on your way home. You live in Silver Spring. That's like in the opposite direction."

McGee's ears turned red as they tended to do when he was embarrassed. "Okay I guess I wanted to come and see you even if it was out of my way."

"Oh that's sweet…I think. Anyway I'm fine, so you wasted a trip for nothing." Abby said.

McGee wished that he could say what was in his head, but he couldn't find the words and his mouth was so dry that they wouldn't come out even if he could. Abby just stared at him for a moment practically daring him to speak, goading him into action. "I wish that you would have come to me when you were feeling guilty. I should have told him what happened between us. Then he wouldn't have hurt you and he would have known that it was entirely my fault."

"Whoa there McGee. Hold on for just a moment. You can't actually think that this is your fault. It is not your fault Timmy. Not at all." Abby soothed. She moved from her seat on the couch to kneel next to his chair. "We were drunk. You have nothing to feel bad about."

"Abby…when you told that guy that we slept together that night, he went berserk and beat the crap out of you. If I had told him, or better yet if I had never let it happen he would not have done what he did." McGee said as he laid his head in his hands. It was obvious that he was beating himself up thoroughly and Abby was hard put to stop him.

"McGee…we did something that we aren't proud of. Something that was definitely an accident, that we will never…well probably never do again. Do not feel bad." Abby pleaded with her friend.

McGee did not believe Abby. All his life he knew what kind of man he was, but he had let a woman who he cared about take the blame for a mistake they both had made and now he was ashamed of himself. He was not the person he believed himself to be and he felt like the villain from one of his novels.

Before he could berate himself any further Abby wrapped him in a hug. "Don't you dare hate yourself Timmy, because that might make me dislike you."

When McGee left Abby a little while later he felt only slightly better about what he had done. That was the amazing thing about Abby, she was forgiving of him even though she was bruised and battered because of his mistakes. He had never met a more loving human being. What kind of person was he? He wondered as he drove home.

NCIS

Abby had finally finished cleaning up the mess in here living room. She was honestly glad that here things were not terribly expensive and would not be hard to replace. A knock on the door drew a sigh from her. "McGee if that's you, you better run because I am so not in the mood for anymore soul searching tonight." She yelled to the person on the other side of the door just before she opened it.

Another sigh was drawn from her, but this time from surprise. "Tony what are you doing here?" She asked the senior field agent.

"Just came to see how you were doing and before you try to make me run note that I bring a gift." He said as he held up a pizza box. Abby smiled and realized that she was indeed hungry. She stepped aside to allow DiNozzo in. He moved to the now clean living room and set the pizza box down on the newly repaired coffee table.

"Okay why are you here Tony? I mean other than bringing me pizza. Don't you have a date or something tonight?" Abby asked as she left the room and returned with plates and two sodas.

"What? Can't I come and see how my favorite forensic scientist is doing?" Tony asked in a way that made his ulterior motives shine through. Abby just gave him a skeptical look.

"Okay, but if Ziva shows up to 'see how I'm doing' I am going use all of my forensic knowledge to kill you all and leave no evidence." Abby said as she sat down next to Tony.

"I take it I'm not the only one to unexpectedly show up at your door today. Let me make an educated guess. McGee." Tony inquired.

Abby grabbed a slice of pizza and opened her soda. "Wow that was a good guess. How did you know?"

"Well maybe I'm just that good." DiNozzo answered. "Okay…you were yelling at him when I was at the door. I put two and two together."

"Good detective work DiNozzo." Abby jabbed sarcastically.

"I'm not the senior field agent for nothing." Tony joked. "In all seriousness though, what was McGee here for."

Abby was afraid he would ask this, so she gave herself time to come up with a good story by taking a large bite of pizza. She chewed slowly and swallowed and still had not thought of anything feasible. She decided on an old standard. "I really don't think that is any of your business Tony."

"Point taken. I was just wondering if he was the one night stand that caused this whole problem." He said nonchalantly causing Abby to spit out the soda she had just drank.

"How did you know?" She asked shock evident on her face.

"Something that Alec said last night. You sleeping with somebody you used to sleep with. McGee was just here. That guilty little look he's been wearing all day." DiNozzo listed.

Abby shook her head while smiling. "That really _was_ some amazing detective work. Yes, it was McGee, but just so you know he is not to blame. If you make him feel worse about this than he already does then you are a dead man Tony DiNozzo."

Tony raised his hands in defense. "I won't say anything to him about it. I will use his many other faults to break his spirit." He said amicably.

Abby smacked Tony in the shoulder causing him to wince. "You're worse than an older sibling. I think you are so mean to Tim, because you wish you had a real little brother."

Tony scoffed. "I…oh please…I…Okay I admit sometimes I wish I had a younger sibling. Definitely not a brother though. I think I would have been okay with a little sister."

"Aww. I can just see you as an older brother too. You'd be so overprotective and adoring. You'd ruin her dates and scare all the boys away." Abby said sinking back into the couch.

"I would never be that bad." Tony denied.

"Oh really. Imagine for just a second that I'm your little sister. I have a date with the biggest player you knew backing your frat days. How does that make you feel?" Abby inquired.

"That would never happen." DiNozzo shook his head in denial.

"See what I mean." Abby said.

"No, I mean it would never happen because I was the biggest player I knew in my frat days and I would never date my little sister." He smiled.

"You know…I should have seen that one coming." Abby said as she got up to take the plates to the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm just not the overprotective type." DiNozzo told her.

"Okay whatever. I just think that if it was for real that you would be the big bad older brother." Abby argued.

DiNozzo didn't have the heart to disagree with her and he even thought she might be right. He didn't really want to think about that though. He helped her do the dishes and then he even took her trash out. Before he left he checked all the locks on her door. When he was standing on her front porch he realized what she had already known. "I am so overprotective." He shook his head and walked away in shame.

NCIS

Abby watched him leave through the side window. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she knew by the way he was shaking his head what it was. She laughed as she turned and leaned against the door. "Showed him."

NCIS

The next day at work Tony brought Abby a Caf Pow, which got him a wink out of Abby. DiNozzo scowled at Abby. He left without saying a thing. Ziva had been standing there throughout the whole exchange. She gave Abby a confused look. "What was that all about?'

"Oh just proving a point." Abby answered.

Ziva shrugged it off still not understanding. "You're looking much better today Abby. The swelling has really gone down."

"Thanks. I used a lot of ice. Anything new come in upstairs." Abby asked.

"No. It's completely dead and I am bored. If I have to look at another cold case I might kill myself." Ziva whined.

"Well you could always help me with my new model." Abby said brightly. Ziva did not look thrilled, but at just that moment McGee and DiNozzo both entered the lab.

"We finally got a new case. There is a body and everything. Thank God." DiNozzo told the women.

They all looked at him horrified. "DiNozzo, that is really creepy. Nobody should be that excited that somebody was murdered." Abby stated.

"Yeah it's a little Palmer-ish. Not to mention the misfortune of others." McGee added.

"You can talk about the misfortune of others…whatever sinks your boat McGee. I'm just glad that we don't have to do anymore cold cases." Ziva said to the room at large.

"That would be 'whatever _floats_ your boat' Ziva." DiNozzo corrected.

Ziva scoffed. "Explain to me how that makes anymore since than sinks. Both are things that happen to boats."

"Yes, but a happy boat doesn't sink and oh my God what am I saying." DiNozzo began, but could not keep talking about inane things. He walked out of the room followed by the others.

Abby went back to her model. There would be nothing for her to do until the others got back from the crime scene with samples for her to test. She went over and gently patted the mass spectacular. "We'll have something to do soon, Major Mass Spec."

NCIS

The crime scene was an absolute horror. It was bloody, gruesome, and it stank. 'Thank God I'm back out in the field.' Gibbs thought and he actually meant it. Desk duty was not meant for anyone. At least it wasn't meant for him.

This crime scene was especially horrible. A woman had noticed that animals were attracted to a shed in her neighbor's backyard. It had not truly bothered her until she started to smell the rotting. That's when she called the cops.

When the metro police had arrived at the place and seen the carnage in the shed they had been only too happy to find out that the owner of the house was a Navy lieutenant. They joyfully passed the case on to NCIS. Due to the lack of cases, NCIS had been only too glad to except. It was possibly the easiest the too departments had ever worked together. Not that Gibbs would be making a habit of it.

He entered the shed where his team was working. "What do we have?"

"Well boss, this is a new one for me. I have never seen one that has been skinned before." DiNozzo answered.

Indeed the body's skin had been completely removed from head to toe. It was more than a little disgusting. McGee started snapping pictures of the walls of the shed. They were covered in blood and pentagrams. The body was flayed in a ritualistic way. "This looks like a sacrificial murder. A satanic ritual." Ziva stated.

"I would agree with you Ziva, but the bullet holes in the head and chest would disagree. In most sacrificial killings the victim is stabbed not shot due to the fact that even in biblical times…" Ducky had started one of his long rambling speeches, but was stopped by a look from Gibbs. "Yes well…not a sacrifice then."

"Just get the samples back to Abby." Gibbs told his team. They all jumped to do his bidding. He definitely liked being back in the field. Even his unspoken threats were more effective here. He took a sip of his coffee as he bent to examine the corpse. He hoped that this person id was nearby or at least his DNA was in some database otherwise identifying him was going to be difficult.

"Boss I think that this might be the Lieutenant." McGee said as he came back into the shed.

"Why is that McGee?" Gibbs asked the agent.

"Well boss. The mail. It's been piling up for at least four days in the foyer. There are dishes in the sink and the computer is on. I think who ever did this lured the victim out to the shed and shot him and then did all of this to make it look like a ritualistic murder." McGee said gesturing around himself.

"Okay well then we need to find a motive. Check the computer. Get it too Abby's lab. I don't want to hear from you until you have some answers." Gibbs snapped.

"Yes boss." McGee said to Gibbs retreating back. DiNozzo bumped into McGee on his way out.

"Hey Probie while you're with Abby maybe you could keep your hands off her." He joked.

"What do you know about that?" McGee asked.

"Nothing at all McGeek. Better get going." DiNozzo moved on leaving McGee with a sick feeling.

DiNozzo was kicking himself. "I am really freaking overprotective." He said in his own head.

**Okay guys there is the third chapter finally. **

**Here is a little request for you. Leave a review let me know what you think. **

**I want to know where you want this story to go. I want to know what pairings you guys would like to see. **

**Just let me know what you all want.**

**S.**


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